[Music] well hey you guys listen if you feel like you're constantly in survival mode when it comes to buying groceries trust me You Are Not Alone In fact there's a legitimate reason scarcity mindset Creeps in when you're walking down the aisles of a grocery store these days and today we're going to talk about why plus you'll be getting my Survival Guide to grocery shopping in 2025 that way you can enjoy the food that you love without worrying about about the money all right first do me a favor and make sure you hit that subscribe button so you can stay up to date with all the money content that you need to have to thrive this year okay I'm pretty sure that I speak for everyone when I say that my grocery hauls feel way more expensive than they did a few years ago thanks to inflation and the data shows that since inflation started to Surge more than 3 years ago groceries are up 20 1% on average so that means a few years ago if you spent $200 a week on groceries now you're spending around around $240 and over the course of the year that $40 every single week adds up you guys to close to $2,000 more that you spend on food than you did just 3 years ago but now that inflation is finally settling down a little bit why are we still feeling it in our grocery bills even if inflation technically goes down as a percentage it's actually compounding on itself over the last couple of years and the cost of Labor has also increased to meet demand and energy costs and fuel costs shipping costs and store operations are also up so those increases in all of those areas now are going to you the consumer right so if you're running a grocery store and it costs more to get a crate of apples in because you're having to pay more for the delivery you're paying more for the gas of the guy who's driving the truck you're paying more for the person that's stocking the shelves you're having to pay more for all of that the apples are not going to cost you the same because you still have to make a margin in order to keep your store open so you're going to mark up the apples cuz everything else is expensive that's what you're feeling when it comes to grocery prices now even though prices are staying High it doesn't mean that you literally have to eat only beans and rice to afford your groceries it just means that you have to be smarter about shopping and meal planning which may be outside of your Norm I saw a headline recently that really caught my attention that onethird of the US populations background info is now public so that means 115 million of us are data is out there and data breaches that mean that our info is getting out for anyone to find and this is stuff like our names addresses phone numbers and more that's why I love delete me because they find and remove your information from hundreds of data broker websites that buy sell and trade your personal data so take control of your online privacy with delete me individual delete me plans start as low as $9 a month so sign up today at join delet me.com Rachel for 20% off or click the link in the description all right back to being a smarter Shopper when it comes to groceries this is why I've put together a little survivors guide when it comes to grocery shopping and the first thing in the guide is talking about meal planning for the week now this is probably my favorite tip when it comes to groceries because it actually makes you plan what you're going to eat and what you're going to cook which means what you're going to buy so every Sunday I sit down and wst and I like look at our week and we're like okay what's going on on Monday night Tuesday night Wednesday night we go through the week and figure out what days are we needing a Crock-Pot meal what days do I have time to cook or what days is he going to cook and we just figure out what we're going to eat on every single day and then from there we plan the meals so I can even go to the pantry and be like okay what do we have here I'll look in the refrigerator and be like all right we got some salad stuff here or even if you go on your grocery stores app there could be coupons or deals going around and you could be like oh well looky there this sauce is half off maybe we can make spaghetti this week or whatever it is right so you're actually planning out and thinking through okay what can I spend at the grocery store that's going to make the most sense between what we want to eat what we already have and where you can find some great deals and when it comes to coupons there's actually some great apps out there that can give you more coupons than maybe what you see from your grocery store so check out ibata Receipt Hog check out 51 and Target Circle because those will help you save some money and I even have a free meal planner and grocery savings guide that I will link in the show notes so that you can check it out because again I'm all about planning I think it is so so important now the next thing that you need to do is pretty simple but it's also really important and that is to make a list based on everything that you want to buy so when we talk about this having something visual you guys is so so key because this will help you avoid impulse buys that will really rack up your bill and along those same lines for some people ordering groceries online can actually help you stick to your list better and so you're actually able to see okay here's the total and does that total meet the budget so I can remove items and you're not aimlessly walking through aisles and throwing stuff in your cart so if there's not an extra fee I would actually recommend doing shopping online and then going and picking up your groceries because it can help you save all right next is be intentional on where you go grocery shopping because this is going to be huge when you step inside of grocery store depending on that store it will make or break your budget it really will there's like the really nice high-end organic stores that are awesome and have great food quality there's also a lot of budget friendly grocery stores out there that you can still get some really great healthy foods but they're going to be a fraction of the price so depending on your budget and depending on where you live there are some great grocery stores that are really budget friendly Aldi is One Market Basket is one wi Co Foods Food For Less Costco Walmart and Trader Joe's you can find some great finds there and when you're at these stores buy generic a lot of store brands will measure up when it comes to taste according to like the quality of the nicer Brands they basically taste the same but they're going to be 20 to 25% less so I always do this most of our Dairy and different things I just buy like the store brand and nobody knows the difference of the sour cream let's be honest now we've covered a lot of great things in this guide but none of them are going to really make long-term impacts unless you do the next thing that is part of your grocery routine and that is making a budget every single month and sticking to it and so when you are not budgeting you don't have a dollar amount that you have to stay within you don't have a percentage even you're just living life and buying food and you just are going and going and going and going and going but when you sit down and say okay I think we can eat with this amount of money every single month and that may mean cutting out groceries and shopping more at a grocery store cuz that's going to be cheaper but it's actually giving you guard rails and boundaries when it comes to your groceries and your food and this is really important a lot of people say when they first started budgeting they feel like they got a raise because you don't realize how much you know 50 to $75 is added on when you're just kind of not making a list and you're just shopping and just thinking through okay I may need this or may need that but when you're doing everything we've talked about in this video plus having a dollar amount that you're really sticking to it is is so powerful because it's putting you in control if you have not downloaded every dollar you need to because this is my favorite budgeting app and it really helps we have a line item for groceries and every time we go grocery shopping we drop that transaction within that category and depending on the month what we have to spend for groceries is going to depend on what's going on that month right so some months it's going to be less some it's going to be more but you are in charge of it so it's really really key and every dollar will help you with that so I'll put a link in the show notes for you to check out and listen just a few of these habits and this guide can really make a difference so make a plan stick to your list where you shop is important remember choose your stores wisely and budget and all these things will help you in other places that you shop even Amazon and Sephora Target and Costco plus there are some legit Target shopping hacks that are out there that you're probably missing out on so keep watching this next video to find out how to save big at Target or click the link in the show notes if you're listening on podcast all right you guys remember to take control of your money and create a life you love
